


On a Distant Relay

by Aristide



Category: OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes
Genre: Bittersweet, Cosplay, F/F, F/M, Pining, general dysphoria, reverse furries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:46:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24712570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aristide/pseuds/Aristide
Summary: Mikayla enjoyed her time at Lakewood's local humanist meet-up.She could forget that she was a villain. Forget that she was a robot.Other things weren't quite as easily forgotten or ignored.
Relationships: One-sided Mikayla/Potato, Potato/Colewort
Kudos: 1





	On a Distant Relay

Sneaking out of Boxmore was easy. So easy, in fact, that she didn't need to do any actual sneaking in order to leave. She had simply walked out of one of the factory's back doors, head held high and tail swishing, while the lesser Darrell guarding the exit waved her off with a chipper "Bye-bye Mikayla!"

Unlike her brothers and sister the small cat-like robot played only a small part in the daily workload that made up everything done in Boxmore. She was ill suited for anything that had to be done in assembly and production where Darrell ruled. Shannon and Raymond were the undisputed heads of sale and marketing respectively and while she'd lend a hand, or paw, when needed, Ernesto oversaw accounting, robot resources, and just about anything else Lord Boxman didn't feel like dealing with himself. 

Once in a while, the security cameras would detect a questionable shadow lurking just out of frame or Jethro would insist he saw a thing while patrolling the halls or Fink would had snuck into the vents again and Mikayla would be dispatched to check them out and deal with whatever it was. That was her role, small as it was, which was fine. The big thing was being there when Lord Boxman wanted her for attacking the plaza. As long as she managed to do that, Mikayla enjoyed a level of freedom that the others didn't, able to go more or less as she pleased. 

Today she chose to go.

Boxmore's backlot was mostly empty. Only a few large freight trucks were backed up to the cargo bay doors, waiting to be loaded by a team of Darrells or looked over by the lone Ernesto on expediter duty before being shipped away.

Mikayla gave the vehicles a wide berth as she crossed the pavement. There had been one time when she'd been running late and decided to just travel under the trucks in order to get to where she was going quicker. She hadn't heard the airbreaks on the truck release in time, panicked, and got herself run over for her effort. Her body blew up. The truck caught on fire. She not only missed the meet-up but delayed the shipment by two hours.

It also made for an very awkward conversation with her father when she rebooted in his office.

Once Mikayla was clear of the loading area, it was just a quick sprint around the building, then across the front parking lot, over the highway seperating the two stretches of land (ignoring the flashing "do not cross" sign), and she was at the plaza. 

Like when she left Boxmore, Mikayla strutted right into Lakewood Plaza Turbo with her head held aloft, ignoring the heroes loitering around the place. Word might have gotten out that the chimera-bot wouldn't attack the plaza when she showed up unannounced but that didn't mean everyone welcomed her with open arms. Best to just keep to herself and head straight to where the meet-up was happening.

A relic of a bygone era, the Fantastic! Video store seemed to stay in business out of spite and a lot of diversifying of it's stock to the point where video and video-adjacent items made up little of their actual sales. Most people went there because the store played host to several social clubs. Videos game nights, the Lakewood Plaza AV club, and the monthly humanist meet-up that Mikayla was going to, just to name a few.

Now that she was right outside the building the robot pushed herself up to stand on two legs while the magenta colored spines on her back retreated into her body so she could pull a black t-shirt over her angular head. Mikayla's tiny form trembled as she took her first few steps upright. Her body might not be designed with bipedal locomotion in mind but she wouldn't let that stop her from doing so. 

Dogmun stared at her absently from where he was standing near the door. Next to him was Puck, who greeted her and helped her step up over the threshold so she could join the others inside.

\- - - - -

People watching had always been one of Mikayla's favorite pastimes. While it was fun to mingle with the other folks there, she also enjoyed just sitting in her chair by the snack table, watching how so many people from such diverse backgrounds could come together and enjoy themselves.

The 'bot scanned the small crowd for anyone she recognized. 

Chameleon Junior and his gang were hanging around by the sound speakers like they usually did, fussing over which song to play next while a few other shouted suggestions at them. Rex th' Bunny was sitting on the floor in the nearby children's section of the store with a drink in his hand as he gossiped with a teen in a full human suit who's name she couldn't remember. Across from where she was sitting was Colewort with his silly glasses on and a short girl in an adorable denim dress who was waving at her. 

Mikayla waved back awkwardly which apprently was enough to prompt the girl in the dress to walk over to her.

"Hi Mikayla!" 

She knew that voice. Potato was easily the most well known humanist to frequent these gatherings and had a huge on-line presence to match. It helped that she was sweet and kind to just about everyone. When Mikayla had first learned of the monthly meetings after browsing online for some kind of explanation for how she felt, Potato had been the first person to welcome her with open arms. 

It didn't matter if you were a hero or a villain, the small girl accepted everyone and encouraged them to be comfortable with themselves. 

Unlike the chartreuse robot, who really only owned the one t-shirt, Potato owned a partial human-suit with peach-colored stockings and a costume head she could pair with any outfit she wanted. Often these were vintage dresses that looked liked they'd belong on the cover of some magazine from 195X but once in a while she'd show up wearing an outfit just a little more modern. 

It wasn't some new dress that had thrown her off though. The young bunny had a completely new costume head on. The one she owned before had been a simple thing made of foam and felt with coarse fake hair and large cutouts for her eyes and ears. What she wore now was the same basic shape but had a soft silicone shell for the skin, buckram fabric with painted on irises covering the eye holes and hair so glossy it would put her brother Raymond to shame. There were no holes for her naturally long ears so the head must have had a fan in it to help keep her from getting too hot. 

With her round cherubic face, blonde hair and wide eyes, she was the prettiest human the robot had ever seen.

Mikayla blinked at Potato, feeling her face plate heat up.

"M-Mikayla!"

"It is nice, isn't it? I had to save up a lot but I was finally able to get this from a suiter over in Neo Riot City! Look!"

Excitedly Potato opened the jaw of the head piece. It was much simpler then the rest of the head, having no individualy defined teeth and limited to only moving up and down but the fact that it had even that level of craftsmanship was amazing. And expensive. Amazingly expensive. Costume heads of that detail and quality could got for hundreds of technos. Potato had to have saved up for a long time in order to afford it. 

Mikayla reached out to run a paw over the synthetic hair on the costume head. It was slightly thinner then she expected, her only experience with it being that of her father's organic hair and her brother's polypropylene blend pompadour, both of which had more volume. 

The blonde strands easily slipped between her claws.

"Mrr. Mhhrr?"

"Oh, no, it's nothing fancy. Just nylon. I wanted to be able to style it without needing to use a lot of product. Oh, do.. would you like to style it?" While she sounded excited, Potato still looked at her shyly though the eyeholes. Nodding eagerly, Mikayla hopped off the chair, wobbling as she forced herself to remain on two legs. Potato clapped her hands together happily then took one of Mikayla's paws in her own. Together they headed for the rear of the store.

In the back of her neural network on some distant relay Mikayla was glad that she lacked the ablity to sweat. 

\- - - - -

Big conventions, the type that drew folks from all over, were typically held at or near hotels. Fantastic! Video, being home to their small local meet-up of fifteen Lakewood Plazians at best, consisted of only four rooms total: the main shop, a breakroom for the employees, an office for the manager, and a gender-inclusive bathroom with three stalls. So if you wanted to break off from the main shop without leaving altogether the bathroom was your only option.

At first Mikayla had assumed they were heading there because it was the only area of the shop with a mirror but Potato had eagerly pulled her along and corralled her into the farthest stall from the entrance: the handicap accessible stall. 

It was the largest of the three with a small bench for them to sit on and sturdy chrome handrails to help Mikayla whenever she might need to stand up or move around.  
Locking the stall door behind them, the chimera wondered if Potato chose it for that purpose.

Potato's body language was relaxed as she hopped up on the bench and neatly folded her hands on her lap, waiting for Mikayla to join her. When she didn't immediately, the short girl tilted her head and gave the bench a pat. 

Now that they were there alone together Mikayla found herself frozen in place. Her legs shook, more then they usually did when she walked upright for any length of time, and she found herself tapping her claws together timidly. The costume head obvioualy cost a lot of money. What if she damaged it? Scratched it? Or did anything to ruin it and upset one of the few people in the plaza she'd come to think of as a friend?

A soft touch caused her paws to still.

"Hey. It's okay." She could hear the smile in Potato's voice. "I thought this would be fun but, uh, if you want we can always go back and hang out with everyone else." 

"Mikayla!"

Forget being glad she couldn't sweat. It was a good thing she didn't have to breathe or she would have forgotten how to by now. Mikayla quickly jumped on the bench, crouching down on her hind legs behind Potato, and started taking hold of some of the hair. It wasn't easy. Acctually it was a lot like trying to pick up spaghetti with a pair of spoons so she reluctantly unsheathed her claws. They didn't improve her ablity to manipulate things by much but it worked better then just paddling ineffectively at those blonde locks. She parted the hair onto three sections, gently taking the center locks between her teeth. She pulled the left section over the center, then let go of it with her paw so she could grab the section being held by her mouth. Once she had ahold of that she was free to gently bite the new center section and pull it tight. She did the same with the right section of hair, swapping which section was held with her paw and her mouth. Left. Right. Left. Right.

It was time consuming but once she got a rythm going it became so much easier for her to manage.

"When I did my hair before coming to the meet-up, I just put it up in pigtails. It was easy to learn how to do it on my own but.. I think it's also because they look a little like my ears that way. Silly, huh?" Potato's little legs kicked back and forth as she talked to fill the silence. "I mean, I spent all this money in order to wear this because part of me doesn't want to be who I am. So why…" She sighed and Mikayla waited until it was obvious that she was finished.

The youngest boxbot mer'd in understanding. Even without a costume as elaborate as the other girl's she knew the feeling all too well. A shirt was just a shirt to most people but the act of wearing clothing helped Mikayla cope with the schism that came from being a thinking, feeling individual in a cold robot body she didn't always feel like she belonged in. That didn't mean she hated everything about herself or that she thought Potato should either.

Not that she was sure the shorter girl she was spending this tender moment with could even understand what she was trying to say thanks to her limited voicebox. 

Thankfully there were other ways in which she'd learned to express herself. Letting the finished braid drop, Mikayla turned Potato so that they could face each other. She placed one green paw, then the other, on the sides of the silicone headform and pressed her forhead against it. It was cool to her sensors, much like her own metal body must feel to everyone else.

Potato leaned into the touch and placed her hands over Mikayla's.

"…Thanks. You're a really good listener."

"Mikayla."

When she got down from the bench she dropped down on all fours and geatured with her tail for Potato to come with. The small girl follow slowly only to rush pass her with a squeal of delight when she saw her reflection in the restroom's wide mirror. Potato turned and hopped giggling as the plait bounced along with her movements.

Mikayla watched Potato with a small sense of pride. The braid turned out pretty good if Boxman's second youngest had anything to say about it. Definitly not bad for someone with paws and claws in place of hands. More then that though, Potato was happy and that filled her core with a warmth that she wasn't use to feeling. 

Using the sink to keep herself steady Mikayla got back up on two legs. A yellowish-green grinning face was looking back at her from the mirror. Her eyes lingered on her own reflection for a moment before she turned back to Potato. Her friend had stopped her twirling in favor of playing with the loose blonde hair at the end of the braid.

"You did such a good job." She giggled. "Come on, I can't wait to show Colewort!"

Oh. Right. Potato's boyfriend, Colewort. The one they left behind in the lobby. Mikayla forced a wide smile as Potato took her by the hand again to lead her back the lobby where the rest of the group were still hanging out. The older girl dropped her hand once they exited the hallway so that she could wave happily at the sentient broccoli stalk. They came together with a hug, leaving Mikayla to stand stiffly off to the side while the pair gushed over how cute Potato looked and what a great job the robot had done.

She accepted the praise with a shy murmur and tapping together of her claws. 

As the couple continued to talk, the chartreuse robot slinked back to the chair she'd left vacant over by the snack table. She sat down, spark plug tail curlling around her body as the grin she'd been forcing since leaving the bathroom finally fell. By now there wasn't much left to eat but that was fine by her. After all, Mikayla thought wearily, its not like she needed to.

A laser chip had been left behind on the table in front of her.

She reached out and crushed it under her metallic paw.


End file.
